Featuring Reviews of Triangle Area Restaurants, and Food and Drink Recommendations!

Chef’s Palette in Cary

Chef’s Palette just opened this month in Cary. The location is quite a bit further south than most of the Triangle area restaurants I review, but I’m always excited to be able to get to see a restaurant still in its developmental stages. From the looks of it, this place could turn into one of the better spots in the area for fine dining.

Appetizer and Entree Menu

The decor here is really original. The lighting is a bit dark, but I suppose they’re just going for that look. They solve the problem of trying to read the menus in the dark by having electrically lit menus. Too bad that didn’t carry through to the drink menu. There are paintings that cover the walls, which always give you something to look at. The windows are covered to help get rid of the strip mall atmosphere, and the interior is all custom done for the restaurant. All the dishes and glasses are also uniquely shaped for the particular dish.

For drinks, I ordered a Strawberry Mai Tai, my husband got a Coke, and my son got an orange juice. The Mai Tai was good but seemed to have very little strawberry flavor. Usually when I make strawberry mixed drinks, I cover strawberry slices with sugar and use the juice it makes after sitting a few hours. But I don’t think they used strawberry juice in this, I think they just put strawberry chunks in the drink.

Sweet Potato Fries

For the appetizer I was torn between the Chibby’s Calamari, “Big Kahuna” Tuna, or Intense Sweet Potato Ribbon Fries. I decided on the sweet potato fries based on the quatro frommage dipping sauce that came with. There were 2 other sauces, the Caribbean spiced honey mustard and the remoulade, but I didn’t like them as much. Honestly I was a bit disappointed with the sweet potato fries. I’ve had them at other restaurants and they’ve tasted better than this. I think I would try the calamari or tuna next time, and probably not get these again.

All the entrees have fancy names. The lamb and duck isn’t called “Lamb and Duck”, it’s called “Earth and Sky”. My husband ordered the Renaissance Ribeye with a Caesar salad. He said the salad was the best he’s ever had, much better than the one at Outback or the ones I make at home. He ordered the steak medium-well, which tasted over-done to me (I like mine medium-rare), but he said it was perfect, and so much better than the one he had at Firebirds a week ago.

Renaissance Ribeye

They have a kid’s menu here, but my son didn’t seem interested in the traditional chicken strips or macaroni and cheese. He only wanted the applesauce that would have been served as a side dish, and we were able to order it separately for him.

It took me a long time to decide on what to order. I wanted the Earth and Sky, but I have a problem with Saga bleu cheese. I just don’t like Saga brand at all. I’ve tried it, I don’t like it. If it was some kind of brie, or even Humboldt Fog, I would have been all over that. The Jack of Hearts Filet Mignon had the same problem, again with the Saga bleu cheese. So finally I decided on the Impasto Pecan Encrusted Pork Marsala.

Impasto Pecan Encrusted Pork Marsala

The pork was huge. I just wasn’t expecting that much meat. It was good, and it was incredibly tender. I loved the marsala sauce, it was delicious. It was served with 4 fried portabella mushroom ravioli propped up in garlic mashed potatoes. My husband got the same garlic mashed potatoes with his steak, and he liked them as much as I did. There was also some asparagus on top, mostly for looks I guess. There was a lot of food there, and I couldn’t finish it all. I hope the pork reheats okay because that’s what I’m having for lunch tomorrow. My only problem with the entree was the temperature. It seemed to lose its heat quickly, and I like my food piping hot. I think they would have better luck if they had heated plates prior to placing the food on them. Having a plate warmer wouldn’t be too much to set up, and it does a lot to preserve the quality of the dish after it’s served.

I had to see the dessert menu. I had glanced at it online before we went to the restaurant and everything sounded great. I wanted to get something we all would like, so I ordered the Southern Fried Magnolia. It’s a warm almond pound cake with amaretto glaze, cherry sauce and whipped cream. The pound cake was unbelievably moist and flavorful, it was wonderful. My son ate most of the whipped cream, and my husband didn’t like the cherry sauce so I ate most of it. I thought it was great. I love the combination of cherry and almond.

Southern Fried Magnolia

The restaurant could use a few improvements. Better lighting, hot plates, a better strawberry Mai Tai, but these should be easy things that will come in time. I wish they were open on Sundays as well. Seems a shame, missing out on a good day of business like that. For being open less than a month, the restaurant is surprisingly organized and seems to be doing well already. The prices are about the same as Firebirds, $26 for the ribeye and $17 for the pork marsala. I think it was good for the price, and we’ll be coming here again in the future.